CK Comics

Told from a female zombie’s perspective, this smart, witty detective series mixes urban fantasy and romantic dramedy.

Gwendolyn “Gwen” Dylan is a 20-something gravedigger in an eco-friendly cemetery. Once a month she must eat a human brain to keep from losing her memories, but in the process she becomes consumed with the thoughts and personality of the dead person – until she eats her next brain. She sets out to fulfill the dead person’s last request, solve a crime or right a wrong

iZombie Vol. 1 “Dead to the World”
Published by Vertigo
Writer:  Chris Roberson
Artists:  Michael Allred, Laura Allred, and Todd Klein
Release Date: March 2011

To own a shiny issue of this book, hunt down a local comic book shop.

For any that aren’t in close driving distance to a shop or you just have a preference for digital (I don’t judge) here’s the amazon link here

Greetings and Salutations readers,

Maria here with the new comic review of the day!

From the moment the Boss asked me how good I was at book reports and my eye slowly ceased its nervous twitching, I knew at some point I would do this comic. iZombie was my first official rabbit hole in the world of comics (Gwen Dylan has seriously been my phone background going on 4 years and two different phones). I was kind of a late comic bloomer, I blame old musicals and a town that mostly deals in tourism and cows.

I stumbled upon iZombie while looking at buying Hellblazer and Sandman comics online. Being part of the Big Two adjacent label Vertigo I was intrigued. I had been watching the new show on CW and thought it was a fun take on the already over saturated zombie trend so I decided to take a chance on the comic. What I found was a crazy Lovecraftian love letter to horror, very different from its shiny, polished TV counterpart. I still enjoy the TV show in its own way and twitter like a dork at every in joke and reference they throw in for the comic fans. While I am firmly in the opinion that TV totally needs more were-terriers, I understand that this series is pretty damn weird and it probably wouldn’t have nearly the same success of the current TV version. Plus, it’s always fun to talk about were-terriers to people who have no idea what I’m saying.

Since these volumes average around 130 pages each (and the amount I am capable of babbling about a 25 page comic let alone a +100 page one) for obvious reasons I will be doing this in multiple parts, with some other short comics mixed in as occasional palate cleansers, until I cover all the volumes. I considered covering the whole series in one go, but I’m fairly sure the focused power of my fangirly babbling might cause everyone’s oversouls to go on strike and bring about some sort of cataclysmic apocalypse with some tentacle toting elder god thrown in for good measure. Or I just bore the hell out of everyone…. One of those.

Onward to the Review of iZombie Vol 1 Dead to the World Part 1 written by Chris Roberson, with art by Michael Allred, color by Laura Allred, and lettering by Todd Klein

The story starts on Halloween in Eugene, Oregon with our narrator commenting on her general dislike for Halloween. Which is crazy because Halloween is easily one of the best holidays next to any day immediately after any candy centric holiday when candy is half price. Meanwhile in a fancy old house (creepy Victorian that has an immediate aura of gloom, you know the type.) A guy with everything from the neck down bandaged like a mummy and strange occult looking patterns on his face is giving a very serial killery, grandiose monologue to a guy strapped to a hospital bed. To complete the whole evil guy aesthetic, he also has a large white cheetah/ panther type pet lounging on the couch. His dialogue suggests this big cat may be more than just a cat. But enough about Creepy Mcgee, soon the doorbell rings and after donning one of a selection of random masks he has he opens the door to the people we mainly care about (sorry dude it’s too early in the story for me to particularly care about your creepy shenanigans quite yet. Don’t completely forget about him though, he does become very important as the story develops).

Just outside the door is our main three characters Scott (called Spot by Gwen, which he doesn’t like but is too in love with Gwen to push the matter) the were-terrier proudly enjoying the freedom of Halloween in his shaggy terrier glory (he’s basically a Scottie terrier with human proportions), A very bored looking Gwen Dylan, dressed as Shaun from Shaun of the Dead, and Ellie the Ghost rocking an old school sheet ghost costume. Caught unaware by the trick or treaters creepy guy just gives them all random stuff in his house to make them go away, equating to a tin of breath mints for Ellie, an umbrella for Gwen, and a rock for Scott.

Unlike her savvy could have been a brain surgeon TV counterpart, Gwen is a grave digger at a local cemetery, she hints she isn’t originally from Eugene and how easy it was to just leave her life after she ‘died’. She is currently squatting in a mausoleum at the cemetery which is how she originally met Ellie. From the looks of Ellie she died sometime in the 60’s from her black knee high gogo boots to her blond beehive-esque hairstyle she definitely stands out in their group of friends, well, if anyone else could really see her on the regular.

There’s a quick glimpse at a side story about a paintball range that’s run by vampires. Something that was ever so slightly hinted at in the TV show but to my disappointment, no sorority of female vampires was anywhere to be seen. Way to drop the ball, CW. They hang out with Scott at a diner and not much happens except establishing how into Gwen he is and how much that probably isn’t going to happen. There’s also a quick glimpse at a couple of fellows in a car talking about some sort of shadowy corporation and how there’s been a “marked increase in postmortem activity in Eugene during the last year”. Back from the diner it’s time for Gwen to get some supper of her own. She states that she has to eat at least once a month, lest she become a shambling zombie mess. Gwen hates eating brains and likens the taste to “imagine – like motor oil and someone else’s vomit – and you won’t even come close to the level of nasty”. Without any fancy cooking montages that make me slightly insecure in my cooking prowess while also making brains look kind of good, Gwen just opts to chow down right there in the burial plot. Upon eating she’s besieged by the dead guy’s memories, she sees that he was murdered and he wants vengeance. In the comic Gwen is more at the whims of the memories, not unlike characters who can see ghosts and help them with unfinished business. Gwen wants nothing more than to just live her life but for a week she is besieged by the unfinished business of any brain she consumes. Which sometimes leads to some very Scooby Doo esque type mystery solving, except Daphne is a ghost and Scooby and Shaggy are an I.T. guy at a retirement home that occasionally turns into a were-terrier.

Welp, that’s my time for today. Keep checking back to the website for more fun reviews from Shane and I and possibly some other cool contributions from fellow CK staff. Shane’s also working hard on some sweet new stories from our flagship superhero Caliber that will be showing up in print soon. As well as some shiny new pages from our favorite foul mouthed monster hunters the Monster Operatives and our favorite ray gun toting badass Sir Cybi (pronounced cubby) Knight of the West will continue to be updated on our Webcomics section. Don’t forget to check out Shane/ CK Comics Patreon, every bit of support helps keep this awesome train a rolling.

-Maria B.